Police continue to probe cucumber caper

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On March 21, 2025, a man contacted the Tafuna Police Substation to report that a man had allegedly broken into his house and stolen his bag of cucumbers.

The suspect was later charged with:

Count 1: Burglary in the Second Degree, a class C felony punishable by imprisonment not to exceed seven years, a fine of not more than $5,000, or both imprisonment and fine;

Count 2: Stealing, a class C felony punishable by imprisonment not to exceed seven years, a fine of not more than $5,000, or both imprisonment and fine;

Count 3: Property Damage in the Second Degree, a class A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of $1,000; and,

Count 4: Trespass, a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500, or both.

The defendant’s bail was set at $20,000.

According to the court affidavit, on Mar. 21st, around 12:25 a.m., TPS received a call from a man (later identified as the reporter/ victim) reporting that a man by the name of Samu Tusitala (later identified as the suspect) broke into his home.

The victim alleged that the suspect stole a bag of cucumbers from his house.

Police officers responded to the call and upon arrival at the scene, the officers met with the victim where he briefed them on the matter.

According to the victim, when he arrived home, he noticed that his bag of cucumbers that was on the floor corner was missing. He then reviewed the video footage on one of his cameras and saw the suspect walking towards his house. A few minutes later, the suspect walked away from his house carrying a bag of cucumbers.

The victim walked to the main road and observed the suspect walking towards him with a machete. He asked the suspect if he took his bag of cucumbers and the suspect responded sharply, “Yeah, I took your bag of cucumbers, what? Do you have any business with that?”

He told the suspect that he was going to call the police and he (Tusitala) quickly left without a word.

After the victim briefed the officers, he informed the officers of what the suspect looked like and what he was wearing. The officers proceeded to search for the suspect, but were unsuccessful.

The officers also spoke to one of the suspect’s relatives and he stated that if he’s not at home, then he’s at the “Filifili”.

The victim reported that the suspect stole his 120-lb bag of cucumbers which cost $500 and also damaged his security cameras valued at approximately $2,000.

The victim claimed that the two cameras in front of his house were working earlier but when he arrived home the two front cameras were damaged and not working.

However, available video footage showed that the suspect has a bald-head with a stubble beard. He was wearing a black and blue pants, and carrying a machete while walking towards the victim’s house.

On Mar. 27th, the victim provided invoices for both the cucumbers and the damaged security cameras.

The affidavit does not state if Tusitala has been arrested for the incident.

The defendant is identified as a 40-year-old U.S National.